Life Ministries

 “Do You Hear What I Hear”?
Scripture – Luke 2:8-20

    I love the words of this classic Christmas carol; ”Do You Hear What I Hear”? I almost have a picture in my mind – if this were a child’s Christmas story - of a small shepherd boy skipping away from the manger in Bethlehem singing; “Do you hear what I hear”? “Do you see what I see” “Do you know what I know?”

    There is a well known part of the Christmas story about the shepherds and especially the words of verse 20 “The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.” Later in the Book of Luke and in the life of Jesus, John’s disciples come to Jesus and ask “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else”? Jesus replies; “Go back and report to John what you have seen and what you have heard!”
    The angel messenger sent to the shepherds of Bethlehem startled them with his presence, but his voice spoke the very words of God…words that God wanted the whole world to hear; ”I bring good news of great joy!...To you this day is born in the city of David – a Savior!”  I can imagine that as the tiny child in the manger of Bethlehem cried for the first time, Satan and all of hell must have heard God’s voice thunder in their midst!  Do you hear what I hear?
    There is a skit out that asks the question; “What did Joseph do the day after Christ was born”? It imagines that since Joseph is a carpenter, that he begins to make a crib for Jesus. And, as he does, he thinks about all the events surrounding the birth of Jesus…the angels, the shepherds, the wise men, and he thinks to himself “If they treat him like this when he is just a baby, how will they treat him when they find out that he is the Son of God?” At about that time, the lights suddenly go out and all you hear is the hammer hitting the spikes. “How will they treat him when they find out who he really is?”
    A little boy went with his mother into a crowded department store where people were elbowing each other, and clerks were ringing up their sales, in the midst of much noise and frustration. The little boy held a balloon filled with helium. In the press of the crowd he was bumped and lost hold of the string, and his balloon floated to the ceiling. One of the clerks saw what happened, and called the janitor to ask that he bring a ladder and retrieve the balloon. He protested, but then gave in, and came with a ladder into the middle of the crowded floor. For a moment, everything seemed to stop. Cash registers stopped ringing; people stopped pushing and shoving; everyone stopped to watch as the janitor climbed the high ladder, grabbed the string of the balloon, brought it down and handed it to the little bright eyed boy. Everyone applauded, then they started pushing and shoving and the cash registers started ringing again, as everything went back to the way it was. But, for a brief moment in time, there was evidence of love and care in our world. Christmas comes but once a year; a moment in time to remind us of God’s love and care for us and our world. Do you hear what I hear?
    I have come to know that there is a difference between hearing and listening. There are times, for instance, when I hear my wife speaking…but I’m not really listening. That’s why she often says to me; “I have told you several times and I’m not telling you again!” And then I get really upset with myself for hearing and not listening. I don’t know, is this a universal “guy” thing? The peculiar thing is that it seems to be just the opposite with God’s Word. We sit and listen to the Word, but we don’t hear what God is saying!
    In Deut. 31:11 God spoke through Moses and said; “when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the aliens living in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law. Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” … “listen and learn…hear and learn.”    
    Many times in the gospels Jesus says “you have heard it said” But, I say”…. If I may put that in my own words it would be “You have heard it said – but now I want you to really hear what it means!
     Many of us know the Parable of the Sower, and we tend to think of the seed and the soil, but did you know that this parable is also about how we hear the Word of God?  Verse 18 – “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”  Have you ever thought about this parable as representing the condition of our hearts EACH TIME we come to worship?
    Times when we come and listen without hearing or understanding and the seed is just scattered along the path, and Satan comes and snatches away what was sown! Or times when we come and hear God’s Word and receive it with joy, but by Monday morning we have forgotten everything we heard…like the seed that fell on rocky places. Or, how about those times when we come to worship and the worries and troubles in our minds and hearts “choke it and make it unfruitful?”  But, maybe, just maybe, if we  come not just to listen, but to really hear what God is say and desiring for us to understand, we will really hear...“I bring you good news of exceeding joy! Unto to you a Savior is born…unto you a King is coming”…Do you hear what I hear?
    The goal of any good communicator is not necessarily to speak well with perfect English, but to be heard and understood. In the Old Testament God spoke clearly through the prophets, but nobody listened…God spoke through the scriptures, but nobody listened… In our scripture today, God spoke through angels and the testimony of others, but they still did not listen! It says they were “amazed” but they were not listening!
    Today God still speaks in ways that we can hear Him, receive his message clearly, and understand Him…if we are listening. One of the most important Christian concepts that we can grasp is that when God speaks he is speaking to us personally. Every scripture we read, God speaks to us! Every scripture we hear, God speaks to us! Every message given, every study taught, every testimony heard…God is speaking to us.
    I don’t know how many times you have heard the Christmas story, perhaps every year of your life since you started school,  but if you don’t hear anything else I have said today, hear this; “God loves you!” The child Jesus – born of the virgin Mary – the Son of God – in the manger of Bethlehem – was born for you because God loves you!  I hope you hear what I hear….